Hooking up my box to the web

I just received a cable modem & ethernet card from family out in Richmond,
Indiana who's service went bankrupt (sound familiar?). So, he sent me his
modem and I want to hook it up. Who's the best (is excite or cox the only
choice?) Also, since I would have a fast, permenant connection, I want to
host my web site on my own box. I have it working as http://localhost. How
would I go about hooking it up? Where can I find information about doing
this in Linux?

Thanks alot in advance.

-- 
Superior ability breeds superior ambition.
        -- Spock, "Space Seed", stardate 3141.9